Finding a Balance When Working from Home

While much has been made about the advantages of working at home for people, especially for women and mothers, there are some downsides to the equation as well.

Many women prefer to work from home because it gives them a lot less to worry about when it comes to time and costs. Firstly, they don’t have to think about the commute, that usually cuts their time at home short, and the costs of the commute are also an issue. When working at home, women are able to do everything they need to do around the house in the morning, take the children to school, and then get to work at home without having to add a commute into the equation.

However, there are some downsides. One is that women tend to need the social interactivity that comes with working in the office, and this is one of the things that is most important to them when comparing the two options.

Some women would prefer to separate the two, so that they do not have to go through the guilt of having to block out their family members when trying to work. On top of that, the lack of social interaction and being able to simply get out of the house, is something that women miss and crave when working from home.

Another problem that women encounter is that when working at home, personal and business issues tend to often intermingle. It’s hard for women working at home to simply shutout the rest of the house and focus on work. Men seem to be much better at being able to separate the two and focus on work even when they are not in the office.

As a result of this fact that one aspect of life is constantly spilling into the other, many women find that this leads them to need to work during the night and during weekends in order to make up for the time spent focusing on non-work related things during the day.

Basically, it really depends on a person to person basis. What works for one individual, might not work for another.